


We Are Nowhere and it's Now

by ohvienna



Category: Firefly
Genre: Angst and Humor, Drunkenness, F/M, First Date, First Kiss, Romance, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-04
Updated: 2012-11-04
Packaged: 2017-11-17 17:22:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/554059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohvienna/pseuds/ohvienna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I prefer something with a few miles on it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Are Nowhere and it's Now

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Livejournal on 7/17/2008, as part of a larger fanfic/fanmix collaboration created with lostcointoss (the entire project can be found here: 5denouement.livejournal.com).

"So, Mr. Wind Blows Northerly," Inara asks nonchalantly, gesturing into space, "care to point out which way to go?"

Mal turns his gaze from the darkness before him to the shorted-out navigation system on Inara's shuttle console and shakes his head. "We just keep goin' the way we're goin', hit Serenity in no time. Well, not hit Serenity, just...well, we'll find her."

Mal swallows and turns to her, his eyes stubborn but his lips curved into a friendly smirk. Inara's all too familiar with this look and she tries her best to keep her frustration at bay. She flicks her eyes up at him, makes them shine like she doesn't have a care in the 'verse. 

He points at nothing. "That way."

"There's nothing out there."

"We just stay put then. Serenity'll find us. We can just...."

"What?"

"Go in circles." 

A small, almost inaudible laugh escapes her lips before Inara thinks to stop herself. She suddenly feels too warm, her face still flush from her third glass of shimmerwine, of which she's now quite glad to have accepted. She tries unsuccessfully to suppress a hiccup. 

"You know, might be I should drive," Mal says, going for the controls.

She waves his hand away. "Like you're any better off. 'Lan-dan jiang,' huh? Not so weak after five, are they?" 

"Tasted like fruit juice. And next time, I'm picking the restaurant." 

She bites back another laugh. 

"Somethin' funny?" Mal asks. 

"There's a part of this situation that isn't?" 

Mal looks bemused at her complete lack of concern; Inara neglects to tell him that this isn't the first time her navigation system has failed her. She's always managed to find her way home again.

Leaning around the chair, Mal attempts, in what could only be interpreted as his way, to fix the problem. He pushes buttons; flicks switches indiscriminately. Inara swats his hand hard, the slap cracking through the silent shuttle. 

"Ow!"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to touch anything?"

"Probably many. A great many times."

He shifts backward, sidling up behind her chair. His fingers twitch in her peripheral vision before he lays a tentative hand on her shoulder. "Tonight was...I had a good time tonight. Did you...have a good time? We don't have to do that ever again, if you didn't."

"It was fine," Inara reaches down with one hand, inadvertently causing Mal to slide his hand off of her, and frees her sore feet from her shoes. They are as she suspects, red and bruised from the several times Mal hadn't quite kept hold of his footing. "You know, except for that you might have broken my toe, and now we're lost in space for some indiscernible length of time." 

"In a hurry? Got somewhere more important to be? Some fancy client lined up you've got to go twirlin' around with now, too?"

Inara retorts with the quietest of sighs, keeping her eyes focused on the black. "Let's not." 

Not now. Not yet. "Tonight was wonderful," she says softly. 

Mal loosens his clenched jaw. "Really?"

"Yes."

"You mean before or after I broke your toe?"

"Both."

He smiles, and Inara watches as his muscles relax. He looks almost surprised, and she inwardly forgives him for starting the conversation she knows they'll both dance around for as long as they can. 

He leans over her, reaching a hand out towards the console. The motion distracts her completely from her current train of thought. 

"What's this one do?" He flicks a switch. 

The cockpit lights go out.

"Mal."

"Yes?" he smirks.

"Do you mind?"

"No."

She cranes her neck around to glare at him and his expression fades. It's too quick to read, but Inara is fairly certain she sees a small flash of trepidation in his eyes. 

Leaning down, he reaches out and tips her chin up towards him. 

In the darkness of the shuttle, surrounded by nothing but the black, Malcolm Reynolds kisses Inara Serra for the first time, and she kisses him back. 

Her neck is strained awkwardly to the side, and he doesn't know what to do with his hands; their angles are askew and they can't see a thing and it's perfect. When they stop, they stare at each other with uncertainty. Another first--they are both at a loss for words. 

Seconds pass before Mal clears his throat, straightens up and turns his eyes to the absent horizon. 

"That...that was our first kiss."

"It was at that. Not counting the time I was all unconscious-like." 

Inara’s eyes widen momentarily and she turns away, slightly embarrassed and feeling a desperate need to pull herself together. They are both silent for a time as they gaze blankly into the infinite expanse of space ahead. 

Inara breaks the awkward pause that threatens to linger between them. "If we just keep going we should rendezvous at some point. Unless something happened and they went off course somehow."

"Serenity can't go off course," he says, "she never has one." Mal steps around Inara and contemplates the array of screens and buttons and switches in front of him, his eyes searching. 

"What are you looking for?"

He swings his booted foot forward, kicking the console. The navigation lights blink back to life and a familiar, steady beeping fills her ears. Radar. Home. 

Inara turns to find him gazing down at her. 

She smiles coyly. 

He flashes a satisfied grin.

"Just needed a kick start."


End file.
